Car-coupling



(No Model.)

D. U. GRAVELINE.

GAR COUPLING. No. 333,850. Patented Jan. 5, 1886.

FE .l-

1: \IEN M/ J I z UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID U. GRAVELINE, OF BYRON, ILLINOIS.

CAR-COUPLING.

$PECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 333,850, dated January5, 1886.

Application filed October 20, 1885. Serial No. 180,440} (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, DAVID U. GRAVELINE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Byron, in the county of Ogle and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Self Gar-Couplings, of whichthe following is a specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings.

This invention relates to an improvement in self car-couplings, and itis partly an improvement on a self-coupling for which Letters Patent ofthe United States No. 324,680 were granted to me August 18, 1885; and itconsists in the peculiar construction and combination of devices, thatwill be more fully set forth hereinafter, and particularly pointed outin the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improvedcar-coupling applied to a car. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinalsectional view of the coupling.

A represents the draw-head, which has vertical side walls, B, the closedbottom 0, and the open top D. The outer end of the drawhead is enlarged,as at E, forming a. bumper. An opening, F, is made in the rear side ofthe bottom, and the latter has a depending stud, G. H represents a flatsteel spring, that is secured at its rear end to the upper side of thedraw'head, and extends horizontally throughout the draw-head, as shown.This draw-head has its outer end made in hollow pyramidal form, and isprovided with a transverse elliptical opening, I, adapted to receive theend of the coupling-link, the hollow pyramidal form of the bumper beingadapted to direct the link to the said opening.

K represents the draw-bar, made in the form represented in the drawings,and having a forwardly-extending hook, L, on its lower edge and rearend, adapted to catch under the rear edge of the bottom 0. The draw-barhas also a draft-hook, M, at its front end. It will be seen that thedraw-bar is curved longitudinally, its inner end being lower than itsouter end. The inner lower end is attached to the draw-head, and whendraft is applied to the draw-bar its outer upper end, having thedraw-hook, is drawn downwardly, to counteract any tendency to rise andrelease the coupling-link. The outer end of the spring H bears down uponthe outer end of the draw-bar, and

the latter has at its rear lower end a forwardlyextending spring-hook,N, that engages with the stud G, and thus secures the draw-bar firmly inplace in the draw-head.

By depressing the outer end of the springhook N to release the stud G,the draw-bar may be readily removed from the draw-head and replaced by anew one should the drawbar become broken.

The draw-head is provided with ears 0, proj ecting laterally from thesides at proper intervals, forming openings or spaces to receive acoupling-link between the ends, and these ears are bored vertically toreceive a coupling-pin, P, to pass through the opening in thecoupling-link R, placed between the ears, as shown at Fig. 1, furnishingan additional or safety coupling or means for coupling cars varying inheight to such an extent as to lessen the efficiency of the centerself-coupling.

When two cars provided with my improved couplings come together, thelink is caught in the hooked ends of the draw-bars, as shown in Fig. 2.

S represents a handle, secured to the drawbar, by which the draw-bar maybe raised to disconnect it from the coupling-link and uncouple the cars.

T represents a link that is connected to the upper end of the handle,and to the upper end of this link is swiveled a vertical rod, U, whichhas a feather or flange, a, on one side, and a handle, '16. The rodpasses through a metallic plate, V, that is secured to the top of thecar. When the rod is raised to raise the draw-bar, the latter may besecured in that position by turning the rod partly, which causes thefeather to bear on the upper side of the plate V.

Hand-levers WV are fulcrumed to the end of the car, and are connected attheir inner ends to the link T. By this means the cars may be uncoupledeither from the top or from either side.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. The combination of thehollow draw-head having the opening F and the stud G, the drawbarfitting in the draw-head and having the spring-hook to engage with thestud G and secure the draw-bar in place, and the spring H, bearing onthe draw-bar, substantially as described.

2. The combination of the hollow draw-head, having the opening F and thestud G, and the draw-bar fitting in the draw-head, and having thespringhook to engage with the stud G and 5 secure the draw-bar in place,substantially as described.

3. The combination of the draw-head, the draw-bar therein, the linksecured to the drawbar, the feathered rod secured to the link and I0passed through a plate secured to the top of the car, and thehand-leversfulcru ned to the end of the car and connected to the link,substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

DAVID U. GRAVELINE.

l/Vit n esses:

RICHARD HART, J AMES I. I-IOUsENORT.

